Louis Vuitton, the renowned luxury brand owned by LVMH, is currently facing a strike organized by the CGT and CFDT trade unions. The protest has seen hundreds of employees from three out of Louis Vuitton’s 18 factories in France participate, as they demand better wages and express their opposition to proposed changes to working hours. The company has offered an average salary increase of €150 per month, as well as a reduction in working hours from 35 to 33 per week. However, the workers argue that these changes would negatively impact their work-life balance.
Around 5.3% of Louis Vuitton employees have gone on strike, with the workers from the French towns of Asnières, Sarras, and Issoudun staging the walkout between the morning and evening shifts. They have voiced concerns over the effects of the proposed changes, believing that reducing the working hours will not result in additional reductions in working time, known as RTT, and will instead force them to work late in the evenings. Several signs held by the workers reject night shifts and denounce their low salaries compared to the amount of hard work they put in, with many of the workers being women.
Negotiations between Louis Vuitton’s management and the unions have been ongoing since autumn, but tensions escalated when the management requested the unions to sign off on their proposal this week. The CGT and CFDT unions opposed this move, accusing the company of trying to push the deal through forcefully. They have threatened to call for further strike action within a week if their demands are not met. On the other hand, the CFTC union, which represents over 50% of the workers, has expressed a desire for negotiations to continue.
The unions argue that Louis Vuitton’s management plans to exploit the proposed changes to working hours with the intention of eliminating the standard day shift and only operating the morning and evening shifts. They claim that the management is using the salary increases as leverage to gain approval for the project. If the proposal is rejected, Louis Vuitton has stated that they will not provide any wage increases.
This strike and the ongoing negotiations shed light on the existing tensions between workers and management within the fashion industry. While luxury brands continue to thrive, employees are advocating for fair compensation and improved working conditions. The outcome of these negotiations will greatly impact the future relationship between Louis Vuitton and its employees.
[Useful links:1. LVMH Offical Website
2. CGT Union Website]
